The Highway Man Inuyasha Style
by bluberry-mist
Summary: Alfred Noyes's famous poem "The Highway Man" with an Inuyasha twist. Enjoy.
1. Part 1

(Author's note: I love this poem, though many of you may know it as a song, sung by Loreena McKennit. It is about the American Revolutionary War. This is just a one shot fic (that is 2 chapters long...)to get me refreshed so don't ask for any more chapters. Thanks for reading!) Disclaimer: I do not own the poem/song The Highwayman. It was written by Alfred Noyes in 1906, and sung by Loreena McKennit. I also do not own Inuyasha and related characters (no matter how many stars I wish on...) I am getting no profit off of this fic. It is purely for entertainment and a waste of your time... I mean fun. Oh and the poem's words are written like this: ((blah blah words blah more blah)) Authors notes are written like this: (Author's note: blah) Thank you and enjoy the fic.

--- Kagome stood in the darkness. She was blanketed with a fine wool coat. This was given to her by, well, we'll say "a friend." She glanced out the window into the foggy air. It was getting chillier by the days. The full moon was rather low in the sky, giving the world a ghostly look. It also laid out a path of moonlight on the cold ground. This path was surrounded by barren trees and looked very frightful. One might be wondering what a well cared for, landlord's daughter is doing in the middle of the night. She is waiting for something, or should I say, someone. She absently clutched to a lock of her long black hair and twirled it around her fingers. A distant sound of horseshoes on cobblestone could be heard and Kagome tensed. "Is it really you?" she asked the far off sound.

((The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.  
  
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.  
  
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
  
And the highwayman came riding--

Riding--riding--

The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.))

It was he, was it not? He looked the same. He has an expensive –yet dirty- French hat. He looked similar to a musketeer. Just like the British, he had lace sprouting from under his chin. This would give the impression that he was rich. This is a good disguise for the robber. He also had a reddish, purple, velvet coat and brown, kaki pants. His boots were well decorated and came up high on him. His horse was a dark chocolate brown with its coat shining in the moonlight. He was beautiful, even if his hair was an odd color, pure, natural silver. He rode up to the door with a cocky smirk on his face. Kagome giggled silently to her self. He always had a royal stance even if he was far from royal. He was gorgeous. She almost broke into a giggling fit at the thought of him and her other choice of words. 'I must keep silent until the signal.' Then she went back to her lost train of thought. 'Delicious, that is the word for you, my silver haired angel.' A sparkle caught her eye. 'So he has his rapier with him. That means that he has a job tonight. He promised that he would spend tonight with me.'  
  
((He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,  
  
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doeskin.  
  
They fitted with never a wrinkle. His boots were up to the thigh.  
  
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle,  
  
His pistol butt a-twinkle,  
  
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.))

The silver haired "angel" clattered into the yard, past the stable, and up to the door. He strangely stayed on his horse and tapped on the door three times. Then he tapped his whip on the shutters once. This signaled that he had a job tonight. He whistled a soft tune to the cold air and turned at the first sound. A window on the second story opened revealing a girl with dark eyes and a pale face. She had long waving black hair. Kagome again tensed. She hated it when she heard that one knock on the shutters. It meant that he might not return the next night, that he had a job. She was still absently playing with her hair when she heard the tell tale tune. Poking her head out the window, she frowned as he walked his horse over. "I know you don't like it when I go on jobs but you don't need to tie knots in your hair because of me." "Do you have to go, Inuyasha?" she asked, ignoring his remark. "You are going to like this one, I promise," he said with his trademark smirk.  
  
((Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,  
  
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.  
  
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  
  
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,  
  
Bess, the landlord's daughter,  
  
Plaiting a dark red love-knot, into her long black hair.))

Hojo sneered as he watched the two talking. "What is that robber doing with Ms Higurashi?" In his blind anger at seeing his life long crush talk lovingly with a stranger, he slipped on air and the stable floor under him gave an innocent creek. Inuyasha turned at the sound but Kagome would not let him leave her attention for long. "That is probably just one of the horses." Inuyasha turned back around. "Yeah, probably." He paused for a moment. "As I was saying, you are going to like this job. There is no way that anything can go wrong."  
  
((And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked  
  
Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked.  
  
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,  
  
But he loved the landlord's daughter.  
  
The landlord's red-lipped daughter.  
  
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-))  
  
"It will be a cinch," Inuyasha continued. "Me, Sango, and Miroku have it all planned out."  
"When can I expect you back?" Kagome questioned. She knew that that would be the worst part. He was not out of danger of getting caught until they stopped chasing him. That has once taken three days!  
"If they give chase, then I will be back tomorrow night. If not, I will be here at sunrise."  
Kagome smiled. That was good news. "I won't sleep while you are out there, you know that. Come back safe, my love."  
"I would go through hell to get to you. If you are so worried, then look for me by the moonlight, my Kagome." Inuyasha replied. He has lost his smirk for a moment, understanding her seriousness.  
  
(("One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,  
  
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;  
  
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,  
  
Then look for me by moonlight,  
  
Watch for me by moonlight,  
  
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."))Inuyasha rose up on the stirrups of the horse and raised his hand up to her window but he could not reach her. She was too far up. She also reached for him but stopped when she nearly fell out of the window.  
"I wish you had met me at the door like usual," Inuyasha remarked. He was right in thinking that. With Kagome still in her room, they could not share their goodbye kiss. Instead of answering his remark, Kagome let her hair tumble out of the window. For a moment, he sighed as the warm smell of her perfume enveloped him and he ran his fingers through the ends of her silky hair. Then he sat back down and tipped his hat, then rode off toward the west. Kagome sat back down on the window seat and listened to the sound of horseshoes, but they stopped after a few steps.  
Again she turned around to see his glistening gold eyes and silver hair. Her gave her a triumphant smirk and whispered words that sounded sweet to her ears. "Look for me by the moonlight. Watch for me by moonlight, I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way." Then he was off.  
  
((He rose upright in the stirrups. He scarce could reach her hand,  
  
But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like a brand  
  
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;  
  
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,  
  
(Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)  
  
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the  
west.))The sun rose, and yet there was no sign of him. This told Kagome that the people had chased him. She kept telling herself not to worry. Later in the day, around noon, Hojo came to talk to her.  
"Did you hear the news, Ms Higurashi, about the robbery?" Hojo asked with hidden venom in his voice. "Someone stole from His Majesty's general, Kouga."  
"Really, Hojo? At last we have some excitement around here. Did they give chase?" Kagome asked. She tried hard to hide the worry in her voice but it showed slightly. She hoped Hojo didn't hear it.  
"Don't you worry, No one steals from a servant of the King and lives to tell about it. They will catch that rebel before you know it." Hojo said as he kept from clenching his teeth. 'If Kagome is worried about him, she must be punished. He is a robber and a rebel. I must stop him even if I must stop Kagome too.' "I mist go now, miss. Got some things I need to tend to. Good day." And with that said, Hojo marched off. Later that night, when the moon was just rising, Kagome stood by the closed window. She watched as the wind tossed around the leaves and saw the fog rise. Then she saw a shadow coming up the moonlit road. "It's him!" she cried softly to herself but her joy soon ended when a shadow came from behind him. It was followed by even more shadows. A troop came marching to the Inn.  
  
((He did not come in the dawning. He did not come at noon;  
  
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,  
  
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,  
  
A red-coat troop came marching--  
  
Marching--marching--  
  
King George's men came matching, up to the old inn-door.))

Thats all for this chapter... please continue.


	2. Part 2

(Here we are again... have fun reading)

The troop came to the door and first knocked. Then when the Inn stayed silent, they pushed the door down with a loud crack. Splinters flew everywhere and the soldiers went throughout the Inn, searching for someone. They knocked out the landlord and drank a keg before tearing across the Inn to the side where the landlord's family was. Kagome heard guests in other rooms being slaughtered. Someone called her name. She went to her door and latched it but a few moments later it cracked open. Two men in red coats barged into her room and bound her to the foot of her bed. Hojo, she noticed, was one of the men. He gagged her and sat beside her with his musket at his side. The other followed the example of Hojo. Kagome could not tare her eyes from the window. The moon was rising higher. 'They will find him.'  
Hojo followed her eyes and smiled a cold smile. "I hope he comes. This will teach you to be loyal to the King."  
  
((They said no word to the landlord. They drank his ale instead.  
  
But they gagged his daughter, and bound her, to the foot of her narrow bed.  
  
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!  
  
There was death at every window;  
  
And hell at one dark window;  
  
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.))

Hojo tied her where she had to sit strait up. Then he maneuvered the rope so that it was tied to the trigger of a musket. The musket had its barrel placed right under her breast so that if she moved her body, it would fire.  
"Now, keep good watch!" Hojo said as he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. Then he left her in the blanket of darkness. Her memories took over her for a moment and she say gold before her eyes. Amber gold and flowing silver flooded her vision and she heard his voice. It recited his last words to her. "Look for me by moonlight. Watch for me by moonlight. I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!"  
  
((They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest.  
  
They had bound a musket beside her, with the muzzle beneath her breast!  
  
"Now, keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the doomed man say--  
  
Look for me by moonlight;  
  
Watch for me by moonlight;  
  
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!)) Kagome cried silent sobs into the darkness. "Inuyasha, please don't come," she whispered to the cold air. She twisted her hands carefully behind her back. Each movement took what felt like hours. Then her hands felt slippery with sweat or blood. "Or both," she told herself, but only paused for a moment before continuing. Then she made her mistake. On the stroke of midnight, she stopped only to listen to the chimes of the clock. "He will come soon, and I must stop him." she twisted her hands faster and harder till she finally felt a rope snap. She did it again, and again. "Only a few more," but she could not finish that thought. Her hand moved too far and the trigger clicked. The musket fired.  
  
((She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!  
  
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!  
  
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like  
  
years,  
  
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,  
  
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,  
  
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!)) The Inn stood silent and Kagome winced in pain. It had missed her heart but she would surely die. She knew that. She wasted no moment longer. Pulling both feet in an almost inhumane position, she managed to get to her feet and slip the ropes from her bedpost. She hurried over to the window and hoped that she could hold on long enough.  
  
((The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the rest.  
  
Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her breast,  
  
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;  
  
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;  
  
Blank and bare in the moonlight;  
  
And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's  
  
refrain.)) She stared out into the fog. The moonlit trail was barely visible now. She thought she heard something. "No, don't come. Please." There was no mistaking it now. That was the sound of horseshoes on a cobble road. She saw a shadow in the distance but the fog was so thick. The house stayed silent around her. "Do they hear it? Do they hear him coming?" She looked out to the slowly approaching figure. "He is not close enough to hear me if I shout." Then she heard the slow sound of feet below her. "They heard him." Kagome pot a small bead into the musket and stood strait and still.  
  
((Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;  
  
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not  
  
hear?  
  
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,  
  
The highwayman came riding--  
  
Riding--riding--  
  
The redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still.)) The air was colder than normal. Kagome opened her window and let the air embrace her. He was coming nearer and nearer. She took one more breath then pulled the trigger one last time. The bead acted like a bullet enough and she fell out of the window. The cold spread through the air in warning and she landed on the dew-covered grass.  
Inuyasha paused from a distance. The sun was beginning to rise and he could faintly see the person that fell out of that familiar window. Then he saw her clear as day. "Kagome."  
  
((Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!  
  
Nearer he came and nearer. Her face was like a light.  
  
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,  
  
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,  
  
Her musket shattered the moonlight,  
  
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.)) Anger rushed through him as he saw the door to the Inn open and King George's men come out and look his direction. "She died for me. They killed her!" ((He turned. He spurred to the west, he did not know who stood  
  
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own blood!  
  
Not till the dawn he heard it, and his face grew gray to hear  
  
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,  
  
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,  
  
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness  
there.)) His horse reared and he glared at his enemy. "You killed my Kagome!" he shouted at the troop. They stood in rows and waited for him to make the first move. He had blood and revenge on his mind so he blindly charged. His rapier was raised above his head and his hair flowed gracefully after him. He did get within 10 feet but no farther. They shot him off his horse and he lay there in his own blood. He lay there in a ditch on the highway but he had no regret in his eyes.  
  
((Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky,  
  
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high.  
  
Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat;  
  
When they shot him down on the highway.  
  
Down like a dog on the highway,  
  
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his  
  
throat.  
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,  
  
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,  
  
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
  
A highway man comes riding--  
  
Riding--riding--  
  
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.  
  
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard.  
  
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred.  
  
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  
  
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,  
  
Bess, the landlord's daughter,  
  
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.)) 

Sad, eh. It made me cry. Please review. I will now go back to Crimson Regret (though I really need inspiration on that.) Bai


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